Wagoneer to rock crawler buggy

[Stone Dragon]

I'm still looking to build a strickly off road rock crawler buggy. I am looking at a 79 Wagoneer....360ci, TH400, quadratrac w/reduction unit, and D44 F & R 3.54 gears. It has a full boxed frame and leaf springs all around. And its cheap.... But seems to run good. I want to pull the body off and weld a tube chassis to it. Other then the fact that it is heavy, pros and cons?

[DsrtJeeper]

I'm still looking to build a strickly off road rock crawler buggy. I am looking at a 79 Wagoneer....360ci, TH400, quadratrac w/reduction unit, and D44 F & R 3.54 gears. It has a full boxed frame and leaf springs all around. And its cheap.... But seems to run good. I want to pull the body off and weld a tube chassis to it. Other then the fact that it is heavy, pros and cons?

Go for it!!! The only downfall I can think of is that engine uses a carb.

[XJ Un-Limited]

Go for it!!! The only downfall I can think of is that engine uses a carb.

They have some awesome aftermarket fuel injection systems out there though. http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/grinser/grinning-smiley-003.gif

I think it would be a great start for a strictly crawlin' machine. Frame, V-8, decent parts already. Have at it man!

[mtg1993]

They have some awesome aftermarket fuel injection systems out there though. http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/grinser/grinning-smiley-003.gif

I think it would be a great start for a strictly crawlin' machine. Frame, V-8, decent parts already. Have at it man!
Thats exactly what my father and I did....we used a 79 cherokee frame and bolted a 50 Willys truck cab to it and the rest is history....and you are right about the boxed frame which was a plus while building it. We eventually loped off the rear and tubed the rest!!!

[Rioshilo]

With the bigger motor and bigger frame you are going to want bigger tires (38" or bigger) and so you are going to want to get bigger axles, and you will need to change out the t-case. Instead of an injection system I would recomend propane. Good luck, I'm getting ready to build a buggy myself.:D

Rio

[TRobertsRN]

I have many years of experience with these rigs on and off road, and some parts left from my last one.

I think it will be a great place to start and not very expensive to do some serious wheeling in. The transmission will stand up to the 360 all day. And the Dana 44's will take a lot of abuse with up to 33" tires.

That being said if you are planning bigger than 35" tires a gear change is in order and for stronger off road performmance maybe even switch to 4.10's even at 35". Braking can be an issue with bigger than 33" tires also.

The transfer case is only a two and change to one and in the original form (full time) the cones don't last long without proper care. There are part time kits if you keep the transfer. At the coves with 33" tires and stock 3.54 gears and transfer mine would not hold going down hill, my friends with 4.88 gears and 35's had great down hill control.

I strongly second the propane idea. Will run at any angle, runs cooler, oil lasts longer, very simple to fix if ever breaks down (unlike fuel injection). Might be an issue if you have to pass immisions but you can get one that is propane or gas.

When you test drive it hopefully it is cold when you start it. Take it from Park to Drive right away. If it dosen't go into gear right away may have worn out torque converter. Dash guages are know not to work when this old, I know where you can get new instrument cluster and guages that work if needed. Once it is warm check out the oil pressure guage. It is typical for oil pressure to drop some when idleing at a stop. If it drops below 20 needs at least a new oil pump and maybe a rebuild on the engine.

3,4 and 6" lift kits are not expensive for these trucks.

I would get it sell the body parts for sure to make your buggy. Maybe sell the axles (very popular with the smaller jeep folks for mods) if going with larger tires. And use the money for lower geared axles, transfer, and bigger tires.

Good luck and have fun!!